Daily Edition

Hilary Swank Fires Staff Over Chechen Incident (Report)

The Oscar winning actress, condemned for a paid appearance earlier this month at a party for Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, blames her team; fires manager of eight years.

Hilary Swank is still cleaning up her mess.

A week after the Oscar-winning actress attended the 35th birthday party of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov Oct. 5, Swank told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement she will be donating her reported six-figure appearance fee to various charitable organizations. Now Swank has made the call to fire her manager of eight years, Jason Weinberg, according to a report from The Independent.

The story also reports that Swank may move Amie Yavor and Josh Lieberman, two of her CAA representatives, off her team, for making the Chechen booking. She is also upset with a fourth employee, CAA’s Lauren Hale, who reportedly traveled to Grozny with her. Weinberg and CAA have not yet commented.

Swank received backlash earlier this month when the Human Rights Foundation criticized her – along with actor Jean Claude Van Damme, singer Seal and British violinist Vanessa Mae – for attending the event. All four were paid to appear at the show.

“I deeply regret attending this event,” Swank said, responding to criticism. “If I had a full understanding of what this event apparently intended to be, I would never have gone.”

However, HRF’s Sarah Wasserman said their organization sent a warning directly to Swank 10 days before the party, through Weinberg. “We offered to brief her,” Wasserman said, “but her manager cut us short and responded that Hilary had no plans to attend. …Worse, the video of her birthday wishes shows her boasting about her knowledge of Chechnya and how she ‘reads’ and ‘does her research.’”